Sept. 01--WILEY FORD, W.Va. -- Cumberland airport manager Ryan Shaffer told members of the Potomac Highlands Airport Authority on Thursday that no customers were lost due to a recent rate change and one tenant was gained.
The commercial hangar costs were set at 20 cents per square foot during the authority's July meeting. The rates went into effect Aug. 1 and are expected to increase revenue by about $700 a year.
During the July meeting, authority member Lee Fiedler opposed the set rate, indicating he would like to see a proposal first. However, during Thursday's meeting he indicated he didn't have any questions.
Authority members Terry Malone and Max White, however, did have questions.
Malone questioned why the office space rent for Shaffer's flight school didn't increase. Malone's question prompted members to increase Shaffer's rent by $10 a month starting Sept. 1.
"If you guys want to make a motion that it goes up, it's fine with me," said Shaffer. "I will pay the difference."
Member Dave Weimer opposed the motion, indicating that all office space rentals, including the rent for the Experimental Aircraft Association, should be the same. EAA rents an office to hold monthly meetings, Shaffer said.
Irma Robertson, secretary, indicated that EAA would leave if its office rent increased.
"They produce quite a bit of revenue when there is breakfast fly-ins," said Shaffer, who noted that it helps fuel sales. "They may or may not do the fly-ins if they don't have that office space. I don't know the answer to that."
Shaffer said he was fine with leaving EAA's office space rent the same and increasing his.
"I'll pay $300 to $400 until I can no longer afford it and see my way out like everyone else. Here is the difference -- I make revenue out of mine," said Shaffer.
Malone was concerned that rates were decreased from 30 cents to 20 cents. He noted that the July meeting minutes didn't mention anything about a decrease.
"I think we ended up with a negative income here on the commercial hangar," said Malone.
"It's actually still a positive income," said Shaffer. "We did decide, when we voted on it, to make it an even 20 cents across the board."
For the next five years, all the commercial hangar rates will go up in increments of 2.5 cents per square foot per year until they get to 30 cents, according to Shaffer.
White questioned why Civil Air Patrol isn't charged rent for a hangar and whether any revenue could be garnered from that group.
"It doesn't need to be on our property if we aren't getting any rent for it," said White. "I just don't think they should be riding for free is the way I look at it."
Several years ago, the CAP approached the authority and asked it not to charge rent for the land that the hangar was sitting on, according to Malone.
Weimer said that since CAP is a nonprofit, it isn't making any money while using the building. Weimer also questioned whether the CAP hangar belongs to the authority or not. The CAP hangar does not belong to the authority, according to Shaffer.
"This is somebody else's property that was placed on our property with our permission," said Attorney Jeff Getty. "It doesn't, by virtute of the fact that something is changed, just sheet back to us. You might be able to initiate an action for distress for rent and get somebody to give you an order that says now it's your property. You can't just decide because it's there now it's yours. It doesn't work that way."
Shaffer agreed to speak with the CAP and ask what its intentions are with the hangar.
White also questioned why Maryland State Police isn't required to pay rent. MSP pays land rent and buys its fuel at the airport, according to Shaffer.
"Everyone was coming up to me saying, 'Why is this person's rent going up and why is this person's not,'" said White. "I'm not trying to raise everyone's rent but I want everything to be fair."
Contact Elaine Blaisdell at [email protected].
Copyright 2012 - Cumberland Times-News, Md.
